Between Yellowstone’s Lake Village and Canyon Village, there are a lot of different little stops. That makes things hard when you’re on a time crunch and have to prioritize what you want to see. But my advice to you is don’t miss out on a visit to Mud Volcano/Sulfur Cauldron!
The pull-off is not marked well, and we’d often pass it by the time we noticed it. It’s about 4.5 miles North of Lake Village, and the parking lot is on your left if you’re coming from Lake Village
I actually didn’t make it here until my second-to-last day in Yellowstone, and so when my friends and I were returning to Mammoth Hot Springs from Grand Teton NP, I very high-key pressured them to stop here, and we had quite a time for a few reasons!
I was so glad we stopped here not only because it was the last place in Yellowstone I hadn’t visited, but because this area has some extra special geothermal features that you can’t find anywhere else!
Here’s a rundown of the main geothermal features in the Mud Volcano/Sulfur Cauldron area of Yellowstone:
Dragon’s Mouth
Dragons Mouth is probably the most accurately named geothermal feature in the park. It’s a huge cave that’s half submerged in a hot spring, with steam roaring out of it from the center of the earth. You can see just how fast it’s billowing out, and I wasn’t exaggerating, you can really hear it roar!
If I didn’t know any better, I’d confirm that a dragon does live there.
Mud Volcano
The main reason I wanted to stop here was to see the mud volcano. I mean, doesn’t that sound awesome!? It’s supposed to be the biggest and baddest mud pot in the park, and I was hyped after loving the mud pots at Fountain Paint Pots.
Unfortunately, we visited too late in the summer, and it was mostly dried out with only a small bubbling mud puddle.
Be sure to visit in the spring/early summer to see mud pots at their best!
Black Dragon Cauldron
Black Dragon Cauldron, another incredibly badass name. Early explorers used to think a demon lived in the lake where this cauldron is located because it would occasionally explode in a shower of boiling black mud. It doesn’t do that anymore, but it was still fun to see it roiling in the water and imagining that it could erupt again any second!
Sulfur Cauldron
Sulfur Cauldron was my favorite part of our stop here!
It’s the most powerful cauldron in the area, and is constantly roiling and splashing an absolutely huge pillar of boiling sulfuric water. I could have watched it forever.
This was just seconds before the bison stampeded we experience (post about that to come).
Sour Lake
Doesn’t this sound unpleasant?
Apparently sour lake is so sulfuric that no animal will drink out of it. What makes this lake so cool is that random parts of it will fizzle and bubble for a minute or so, and then vanish only to pop up somewhere else.
More to see
Hayden Valley
Second only to Lamar Valley, Hayden is a premier wildlife viewing area in Yellowstone, not to mention it boasts some of the most gorgeous views in the park. As the road winds through the mountains, you’ll get exquisite views of the valley below.
You can really spot anything from herds of bison, groups of pronghorn, flocks of pelicans or swans, and even the occasional wolf pack!
Most Yellowstone tours take great care when passing through since it’s such a staple of Yellowstone’s wild beauty. There are also quite a few pull-offs where you can park and just enjoy the sweeping valley views.
Hayden Valley is North of the Mud Volcano thermal area, and just South of Canyon Village.
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Well, there you have it! Those are all of the things to see while traveling between Lake Village and Canyon Village. The Mud Volcano area of Yellowstone is so neat, and I hope you get to see and enjoy it too.
Next up, this Virtual Yellowstone Road Trip will take us to Canyon Village, where there are about a million things to do.
If you want to backtrack, here’s the post about everything you need to know about Bay Bridge, Lake Village, and Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone!
Love y’all, and take some care,
WTB